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Ask HN: What is best programmable drone with camera

9 points by prats226 ↗ HN
I am looking for a drone (with camera module) with good support for coding so that you can write applications on top of it. I read previous similar questions asked but for application I am thinking of writing on top of it, it needs a camera module

12 comments

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samfisher83
Phantom 3 it has an SDK so that you can send commands from your phone to the drone. There are a bunch of apps that advantage of this: Litchi,vertical.ai, etc.

Ardupilot is open source however you will need to build your drone. Its not too hard. https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot

prats226
Phantom 3 looks pretty expensive. I just need a basic hardware drone (no packaging or end product). But the only requirement is good software support so that I can write applications on top of it. I checked ardupilot and seems that any basic drone that follows its specifications would be good to go. Also would be ok if there would be DIY kit for drone that can reduce the cost as my main focus is on application on top of drone.
hanniabu
Parrot is another option
prats226
Parrot looks like good options. Cost is little bit high since I am only doing it as a project but can be managed. I checked that parrot supports open source platform dronecode (http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/parrot-team-blacksheep-w...). Is it rival to ardupilot? Is there some good place where I can read about material regarding drones? Hardware as well as software? Since drones are in relatively early stage of adoption, there is lot of noise in hardware as well as software for drones (multiple specifications/platforms) and becomes little hard to choose one of them.
dirktheman
Most RTF (ready-to-fly) drones use proprietary software. Some of them come with Naze32 or CC3D flight controllers, but camera support for these is not very good. As far as open source goes, you're better off with APM.

A full APM set (2.8, with GPS and telemetry and whatnot) retails for about 100 dollars. You'll need a frame, 4 motors (2204/1000kv for a Phantom-sized drone are fine, less than 8 bucks a piece), 4 ESC's (30A, also 8 bucks) and a transmitter/receiver combo (turnigy 9xPRO is fine, it's 60 dollars). Throw in a copious amount of props, batteries and small things like wires and you're set for under 250 dollars. You'll have more capabilities than a Phantom, you have a drone with replaceable parts and you'll learn how to repair it when you crash. Mind you I said 'when', not 'if'...

prats226
Drones with proprietary software wont be useful for me. Yeah APM looks good wrt software support. So minimum I will have to spend to get basic DIY hardware for drone + camera which supports APM platform is ~$250? Its good option when you consider availability of replaceable parts as I heard there is high probability of crashing drones while experimenting. Most of the sites dont ship to india so will have to look for some way to get all this shipped here. Would be great if you can suggest some site that provides all components. Thanks for reply.
dirktheman
Flight Controller (USD 99.98): http://www.banggood.com/APM-Flight-Controller-Set-APM-2_8-6M...

Frame (USD 10.22): http://www.banggood.com/DJI-F330-4-Axis-RC-Quadcopter-Frame-...

Motors (USD 8,29 x 4 = USD 33.16): http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-XXD-A2212-1000KV-Brushless...

ESC (USD 8.30 x 4 = USD 33.20): http://www.banggood.com/2S-6S-BlHeli-Platinum-30A-ESC-For-RC...

Propellers (8040, get 10 pairs so you can afford to crash, USD 2.29 per pair = USD 22.90): http://www.banggood.com/GEMFAN-GF-8040-8060-9045-1050-1070-9...

Transmitter + receiver (USD 47.51): http://www.banggood.com/FlySky-FS-i6-2_4G-6CH-AFHDS-RC-Trans...

Servo wires (USD 2.49 for 10 pieces): http://www.banggood.com/10-x-15cm-60-Cores-Servo-Extension-W...

XT60 plug (USD 2.29): http://www.banggood.com/Amass-XT60-Plug-with-10cm-12AWG-Cabl...

Lipo battery (USD 17.49, buy 2 or 3 if you can afford): http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-11_1V-2200mAh-3S-35C-XT60-Li...

Imax B6 knockoff balance charger (USD29.99): http://www.banggood.com/SkyRC-IMAX-B6-Digital-RC-AC-Lipo-Li-...

2 meter red+black AWG16 silicone electrical wire (USD4.18) and 2 meter red+black AWG12 wire (USD5.18): http://www.banggood.com/2M-AWG-Soft-Silicone-Flexible-Wire-C...

Grand total: USD 308.59, including transmitter, battery, even the lipo charger.

Bear in mind that this is a budget setup. Motors aren't high quality, but I have the same one and while they're not very efficient they can take a lot of beating. When you crash you're probably break a prop or two, and maybe an arm of the frame if you crash hard, so get a spare frame too, if you can. My first setup was almost exactly the same as above, and I get about 7 minutes flying time. It's pretty zippy, too.

The good thing about this setup is that it won't break the bank, and everything is upgradeable and repairable. I recommend anyone starting out with the hobby to buy cheap parts: you'll probably break some parts anyway and when you're advanced enough to upgrade your parts you'll know what to buy anyway.

Banggood ships to India, so does Hobbyking but check shipping rates first.

https://oscarliang.com/ is a treasure trove of knowledge about building and flying these thi...

samfisher83
However if you want telemetry data real time video etc. you will be spending more. Those 8 dollar motors are not very good. You might get might 15 min flight time even with a 5000maH 3S battery. I would know since I built the cheap drone. If you want a more capable drone you will be spending close to 500 bucks. Also you want to be using a PixHawk not apm especially if you want to be able to flash the latest versions of APM.
vmorgulis
3DR is known to use free software for the autopilot and the ground station:

https://3dr.com/solo-drone/

https://pixhawk.org/choice

https://github.com/ArduPilot/MissionPlanner

prats226
3DR looks great but its simply out of budget for me. I would prefer some minimal hardware (even DIY is good) which supports open source software plarform like ArduPilot so I wont have to spend time in tinkering with firmware.
natvert
build your own multiwii based drone. you'll get a more complete understanding of the hardware and software this way: https://nathan.vertile.com/blog/2016/04/24/rctimer-u210-mini...

then for firmware, there are 3 modern forks of multiwii: cleanflight, betaflight and inav.

if you want gps navigation, put iNav on it: https://github.com/iNavFlight/inav/

if you want awesome flight performance, use betaflight

there is also a slightly more robust autopilot firmware, dronin (which is an openpilot continuation) which can run on the flight controller listed on that blog post: https://github.com/d-ronin/dronin/issues/9

full disclosure, that's my blog :)